To Pick Up The Pieces
by indiangirl2008
Summary: Byakko has returned to both the Sand and Leaf Villages, but what pieces of her life will she try to mend first?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto one bit! **

REVISED!

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Chapter 1**

"GAARA MOVE NOW!" A female voice yelled from above him.

Gaara looked up and saw a figure clad in all black except for an opening for her eyes. He was confused at who it could've been, but did as she said. At that very moment hundreds of kunai knives came down. He watched as the figure engulfed herself with chakra and went after their enemy. The after shock sent him flying a few yards.

"Gaara are you ok?" Temari asked running up to him followed by Kankuro.

"Yeah I'm fine, but who was that that came?" He asked still shocked.

"I don't know, but she knows you well enough that your sand should've protected you. We met up with her about a mile from here, but there is something about her that is unusually familiar." Kankuro said now helping Gaara to his feet.

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked struggling to get over his injuries.

"Well she knew who we were before even telling us who she was, and then she knew that you were in danger. I mean she's unusual." Temari said awkwardly.

"Then let's not stand around and let her do all the fighting, we need to be her back up." Gaara said and left the support of Kankuro's shoulder.

"Why the hell did you interfere? This isn't you fight!" Kisame, a missing S-class Mist Nin, yelled.

"You and your _clan_ have done enough damage to this place. Besides you're messing with a few friends of mine. Mess with them, you mess with me." She said.

"Heh you're just a little bug that needs to be smashed. Look at you trying to be all just with everything when you know perfectly well that you won't survive."

"Are you sure about that?" She asked with a hidden grin on her face.

"My aren't you a little lippy girl, what's your name girl so I know to say it over your last breath."

"Byakko." The girl said and charged at Kisame again. Kisame grabbed his Samehada in an attempt to shave a body part on Byakko.

"You'll have to do better then that shark boy!" She said taunting Kisame.

"Shut up human!" He said getting a little upset with her. "Be glad that my partner, Itachi Uchiha isn't with me right now. If he was here you would be on your knees begging for mercy."

"I wouldn't count on it." Byakko said and sent a wave of chakra straight at Kisame. She watched as Kisame's blade absorbed her chakra in what sounded like chewing.

"Heh you sure are a dumb little girl to do that."

"What the hell are you doing here in the Sand Village? I already know that they have extracted Gaara's demon, so what do you want with him now?" She yelled while trying to lead Kisame away from any of the villagers.

"Simple, if we can take Gaara again, it will leave the Sand Village unprotected, and it will bring us something that we _really_ want."

"Naruto Uzumaki…" Byakko murmured remembering rumors about the Nine-Tailed Fox boy.

"Well you sure have done your homework, I'll give you that, but that won't help you at all now. One thing you forgot is that I left my partner behind to get Gaara."

Byakko looked behind her at the village in shock and also cursed herself for not thinking about Itachi staying behind to pick off the guards one by one.

"I see that you now have seen your mistake." Kisame said laughing. They both stopped a few meters from each other staring at one another.

"This Itachi Uchiha… he's the one that killed his whole clan?" She asked not moving from her spot.

"Yes. He killed every single one except his pathetic little brother who is now with Orochimaru. I'm sure that you'll love to meet him since he'll be the one to finish you off."

'What? Damn it! Sasuke joined Orochimaru? That damn man has everything planned out from the very beginning.' She said to herself.

At that moment she and Kisame looked off in the distance at where they left Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, at the blast that sent sand and debris in the air. Byakko didn't think twice and raced back in the direction followed by her assailant behind her. Once she reached the blast area, she saw Kankuro on the ground with blood coming from his right arm. Kisame chuckled and continued on to where more of the debris was coming from.

"Kankuro are you alright?" Byakko asked raising his head slightly.

"Yeah… it's just a cut… I'll be fine." Kankuro said with difficulty.

"Like hell, boy." She said sternly and started to heal his arm. Kankuro stared wide-eyed at her until she was finished. "Come help me get your brother and sister out of danger."

When Kankuro and Kana reached the area that Temari and Gaara where fighting, Byakko saw Gaara on his knees screaming in pain, Temari tied up with Kisame and Itachi staring directly at Gaara.

"Kankuro go help Temari, I'll deal with the other." Byakko said and ran at Itachi.

Once the kunoichi was close to Itachi, she used her kekkei genkai against Itachi. Once it was fully activated against him, Gaara stopped screaming at seemed to try to regain some of his body movements. Itachi turned his full attention to Byakko staring at her with his mangekyo sharingan.

"You're not affected by my mangekyo sharingan?" Itachi asked surprised.

"No… but I saw that you were affected by my jutsu." She said bluntly.

"Who are you?" Itachi asked going back to his regular self.

"You should know because there was only one person in your clan who could stop your sharingan from any damage."

Byakko looked over at Gaara who was now standing unsettlingly staring at her. She looked back Itachi before saying,

"If you ever come to this village again, I will kill you before Sasuke can even touch you."

"Heh so you know my little weakling of a brother?"

"You could say that."

No sooner had he said that, Kisame was on the ground bleeding due to Temari and Kankuro's attacks. Itachi ran over to him and disappeared all together leaving behind destruction, blood, and dug up memories. Byakko watched as Kankuro and Temari walked over, but before they could ask any questions, the kunoichi fell to the ground from exhaustion.

"Help me take her to the doctors." Kankuro said and started to pick her up, but was stopped by Gaara who used his sand to lay her flat and carry her along side them.

"Gaara do you know who exactly she is?" Temari asked once they made it into hospital.

"No…" Gaara said, but continued, "… but there is something very familiar about her, especially since she came and helped us and knew we were in danger with those two."

After the doctors took Byakko back into the Intensive Care area, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro sat down outside waiting to here if she was going to be all right.

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5 hours later

Gaara looked up and saw a doctor come through the door taking his mask off along with his gloves.

"The girl you brought into here is fine now. She had severe drainage of chakra, many torn muscles, and a couple of broken bones, but she'll heal up quiet fine."

"Has she woken up yet?" Temari asked now awake along with Kankuro.

"She has opened her eyes, but is not responsive to us." The doctor said and hesitated, "I believe that she won't speak to anyone despite all our attempts, do you think one of you could get something out of her?"

"I could try… I mean she might say something to me." Temari said and stood up. "If she doesn't, then Kankuro or you, Gaara, will go in next." Temari instructed just like an older sister would.

"Jeez! Right after a battle we get bossed around." Kankuro mumbled.

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I hope that you enjoyed this first chapter, and if you have any suggestions, please give them to me. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow I can't believe it's been since December that I've updated this story. Thank you BloodyOracle for the review. Sorry it took to long. Sadly I'm losing my Muse(s) to all my stories.**

**Disclaimer: Again I don't own Naruto… so sad.**

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Chapter 2 **

Temari walked into the Intensive Care Unit after being told what room Byakko was being held in. As she walked in the door, Temari's attention was shifted from the questions she wanted answers to, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the ninja she just battled with crouching in the window.

"Wait!" Temari said loudly. "Where are you going? Who are you? How…"

"Just stop asking questions!" The figure said in a low voice while looking at her over her shoulder. "I will only give you the name my enemies and the feared know, and that is Byakko. The place that I am going to you don't need to know, but there is one question that I need _you_ to answer. That question is, how long has Sasuke Uchiha been with Orochimaru?"

Temari stood stunned before being forced to answer under the other ninja's stern gaze. "He's been with Orochimaru for almost three years now, maybe less, but he's been training with him." She watched as 'Byakko' was processing this information before nodding.

"Thanks." She said and was about to jump from the sill for the second time, but stopped and looked back at the Sand Nin. "I can't get over how much you look like your mother, but that is only from what your father showed me." 'Byakko' nodded her farewell to the stunned Sand Nin, and finally jumped from the windowsill.

Temari kept her eyes locked on the sill, but was brought back to the world by the opening of a door and two surprised siblings behind her.

"Temari what happened? Where's that ninja?" Kankuro asked pointing to the bed.

"She left." Temari simply said, not looking at Kankuro or Gaara. They watched as she continued to look at the windowsill, but couldn't understand what was going on inside her head that was making her this dazed.

'Byakko' ran through the sand as fast as her legs would carry her. Even though her chakra was almost completely drained and despite her broken bones, she kept pushing herself to the edge. 'I have to get out of here! I have to keep following them so they won't take anymore lives!' She kept repeating to herself. As trees came into view, and the hot sun setting behind her, 'Byakko' slowed her pace. She looked behind her and saw no more signs of the village, or the threat of Akatsuki members.

"At least their safe for now." She sighed while trying to catch her breath. "Too bad you weren't here 'Suzaku', I know that you would've finished the job, unlike me who only does it half-assed." She said chuckling to herself remembering what 'Suzaku' would say to her during their childhood.

"_Come on Byakko! Stop doing things half-assed, and attack me full on!" The 8 year old boy said infront of her. He too was dressed in all black with his piercing voilet eyes staring back at her through his mask._

"_Stop pestering me Suzaku! If you keep doing that, I will kill you without trying!" Byakko threatened him back._

_He watched as her eyes turned from the emotion filled hazel, to the deadly gazed she held while on a mission. This is what he feared most of her, but he knew deep down that she, even in her fighting stage, wouldn't hurt someone that she deeply loved completely. Byakko ran so fast at Suzaku that he had to turn to avoid her kunai knife. Unknown to them, their team leader was watching intently at their progress. The Jonin, Yuu, was observing where they needed to improve on to make a difference in their fighting abilities. Even though it was mandatory that each cell had to be a 3-man squad, Byakko and Suzaku, had been granted special permission since they were many years above the others their age. They were so far ahead that in the next few weeks they would be given the chance to be the Jonin's of their clan. Few had that privilege to go so far ahead, but Byakko and Suzaku held so much power they could surpass their Jonin leader in an instant. _

Byakko now reached a fair amount of trees to offer some protection. As she settled in the brush of many clustered trees, she removed her confining mask. It seemed like her head was sighing when her waist long black hair fell, and her skin sang for the coolness of the wind passing through the leaves. This is what made her happy and very sad at the moment. The happiness came from the fact that she traveled in the woods all the time with her sensei and Suzaku while training or on missions. The sad fact was, was that it was the last place that she ever seen Suzaku and her squad again. Now it had been close to 10, or maybe 11 years since they were killed, but either way, it didn't matter since she blamed herself for not being strong enough.

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The next morning, Byakko woke up to the chirp of birds in the trees around her. The sunshine was starting to peak through the leaves and small branches of the trees surrounding her. The smell of fresh dew made her senses come alive, but it soon hit her, that while sleeping and enjoying memory lane, she needed to find the Akatsuki members now or she would fail. That was her last mission, and she knew that it would take years and many deaths to find these S-ranked ninjas, but she was willing to sacrifice herself for the village that had seemed to desert her. Taking one more quick deep breath, Byakko stood and stretched her sore leg muscles. 'Man in all my years, I can't believe I've become this weak.' Byakko chastised herself. Before she started out on her daylong walk/run to Konoha, she put her confining mask back on her head. 

As she started to walk off in the direction of the Hidden Village of the Leaf, memories resurfaced more than she thought they would. At times she would stop and see where she would sneak off to be alone at night, and places where her and the man she loved would go and talk about the future. Byakko now felt the sun coming down on her back, and knew that it most have been about 9 or 10. 'We're home Suzaku. This is the place that we should've come home to 11 years ago.' Byakko said to herself as tears threatened to spill over. As the gates of Konoha came into view, her heart seemed to stop along with her breath. Nothing seemed to have changed! It felt like a time worp of her childhood, but the men she saw sitting by the gate were grown up and no longer the children she helped in the academy.

When she stepped into the gate, she walked over to the area the two ninja, Izumo and Kotetsu, were sitting. "What village have you come from?" Izumo's voice asked as he looked up from his paperwork. "The Village of the Sand." Byakko answered quietly, while trying to keep her voice steady. "Are you originally from there?" Kotetsu asked. "No, I'm originally from here." Now things seemed to get a little uneasy. She didn't want to explain to them how she had her name, and why it sounded so familiar to a lost ANBU member and clan.

Byakko didn't seem to notice then that Kotetsu was staring at her intently. She only noticed then when another ninja came up from behind her. He was in a tight green jumpsuit with a black bowl shaped hair cut and big eyebrows. "Guy…" Byakko started to say, but stopped trying not to blow her cover. Too late though, the ninja heard her and turned to her.

"No, I'm Rock Lee. Do you know my sensei?" The young man asked, now turning his full attention toward 'Byakko'. "I've only heard of what he looks like, so naturally I thought you were him." 'Byakko' explained, wanting more than anything to get away from this situation and go to her village. "Well I can get my sensei, hold on, I'll be here with him in exactely 2 minutes."

'Byakko' watched as he sped off in the direction of the busy streets. "Does he always do that?" she asked noone in particular. "Yep all the time." Izumo said from her side. "Now how are you from this village when we've never seen you?" 'Byakko' looked down at Izumo and Kotetsu's med-high frames compared to her unnatural 5' 8" frame. In exactely 2 minutes, Rock Lee and Might Guy up to the three of them. "I heard that you know of…" Might Guy stopped when he saw her look up at him. "If I could do 1 million push ups I would never believe who is in front of me! Poco I never imagined you to show up here! But I guess now I can't call you 'Poco'. Please come with me and have some sake like old times!" Might Guy slung his arm around 'Byakko's' shoulder and gidded her to the market streets.

Once out of earshot, Guy swung her to an empty part of the streets. "I thought you were dead! All of us do!" He said exasperated. "It will take a while for me to tell you, and right now is not the greatest of times. I have to get to Tsunade right now! I ran into the Akatsuki Clan in the Sand Village. They were trying to get Gaara under their control and black mail Naruto into coming so they can get the Nine-Tailed Fox." 'Byakko' explained in a low voice. "So far I've gotten Itachi and Kisame away from them, but that's only at the moment. There are still many members that I haven't gotten away from this village and the Sand. So far I know, and you know is that the One- Tailed beast has been extracted and not too long ago the Two- Tailed beast. Their plan is coming under way far faster then I expected, and if we don't watch it, Naruto will be next."

"That can't be possible because Tsunade has Yamoto and Kakashi watching over him." Guy explained, too getting serious at this imformtaion.

"Guy they can't be with him every second of the day and night. Naruto I'm sure already knows of the threat, I'm just here to make sure that they don't come." 'Byakko' said now looking to make sure that the things they said didn't reach unwanted ears. "Now I need to go to Tsunade, I'll meet up with you tonight to get that sake, I'd enjoy a stiff drink." Guy smiled at the way she acted even when she was serious. He watched as she jumped from roof top to roof top toward Tsunade's headquarters. After landing on the windowsill, she looked in to see her bent over doing paperwork in a closed room. She watched as a startled Hokage spun around in her chair at the tap on the window. At first 'Byakko' thought she would faint from shock, but the Hokage opened the window before collapsing in her chair.

"I'm getting too old for this! I'm now seeing ghosts!" Tsunade said with a hand over her racing heart. "Sorry to dissappoint you Tsunade, or should I say _Hokage_, but I have some information that you need to know."

Tsunade sat up straighter in her chair, watching 'Byakko' walked to the front of the desk. "What is this information detailing?" She asked with her chain resting on top of her folded hands.

" Akatsuki tried to get ahold of Gaara." 'Byakko' said and explained the situation in further depth than she did with Guy. At the end of her explination, she looked at Tsunade waiting to see what she would say about it.

"Well I really don't know what to do, but do what we have in the past with the enemies and Naruto. If you want to raise questions with Kakashi and Yamato, go ahead, but we are doing the best we can to keep him from being taken. Besides, last time he almost killed himself when he tried to save his team from Kakuzu's attack. I'm sure you know who I am talking about?" Tsunade asked looking at her sturnly before continuing. "The Akatsuki Clan will stop at nothing until they're probably all dead. Even then I can't ensure the safety of our village or others."

"I understand that Tsunade, but right now we can't just let them do as they please! One thing I observed while sneaking around is that each plan is fool-proof, even I can't get around them. Then I have to take them head on, yet that doesn't seem to phase them in any way." 'Byakko' said while raising her voice slightly. "Look Byakko, I understand! _We_ all know it personally!" Tsunade yelled in frustration. 'Byakko looked at her shocked and waited until she sat back down.

"What do you mean by 'We all know it personally'?" 'Byakko asked while walking closer to Tsunade's sitting form. "Well we've lost many ninjas, but we've also lost Asuma." She said speaking quietly until 'Asuma' came in a whisper. She watched 'Byakko's' reaction to the stunning news, but wasn't prepared for her reaction. "I'm sorry to hear that such a great ninja like him was lost." 'Byakko' said stiffly.

"Byakko are you…" Tsunade asked getting a little worried about the look in her eyes. "I'm fine Tsunade!" She barked out. "But I need to leave and gather more information so you can give it to your officials and such." Byakko was about to walk to the office door when Tsunade's voice stopped her. "I'm sorry you came back like this Byakko. I know how much you, Asuma, and…"

"Don't say another word or name Tsunade. They are in my past now. I'm not that 'young teenage trouble-maker' anymore." With that 'Byakko' walked out of the office and building.

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Nightfall _

'Byakko' walked stiffly toward Asuma's gravesite holding one simple white flower. She set it down beneath his name and just stared at it for a little while. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you friend… you were always there to protect me… and yet I wasn't there to do the same for you…" 'Byakko' said difficultly. She looked around aat the cemetary and saw the name 'Uchiha' in a large portion of the yard. She walked toward it until she came to the names; Teyaki and Uruchi. "Hey mom… dad." She said with tears now flowing. "I guess after 10 years your good-for-nothing daughter has finally come back to see you. I… I just wish that I was here before the insidant with Itachi that way I could be there with you." 'Byakko' started to whip away her tears harshly. "Foolish… foolish good-for-nothing!" She said a little louder until it echoed throughout the quiet cemetary. "I guess Uncle Fugaku was right about me disappointing the clan when I left with Suzaku. I was just not made for the clan." 'Byakko' said in a low sighing way.

After walking out of the cemetary, her place was taken over by an individual who was of almost equal height and the same sort of mask. He looked at her shrinking form in the dark, still shocked as ever at seeing a 'ghost'. He looked down to see two other simple white flowers and two cards that said "Mother" and "Father".

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Well here is this 'long' chapter. Sorry for the wait, just can't get my thoughts together. **

**A/N: The names in this story are real names from the Naruto Series. Also I believe I'm dropping some hints if not too confusing.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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